captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> ifill: good evening. i'm gwen ifill. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight: >> the threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. we will destroy isil and any other organization that tries to harm us. >> ifill: president obama's effort to reassure a nation worried about terrorism. we get reaction to his prime time oval office address. also ahead: chicago police under investigation for civil rights violations, as dashcam video is released of another officer- involved shooting. and, it's politics monday. the 2016 candidates weigh in on terrorism and the president. plus, beijing issues its first red alert for smog. how one group is trying to clear the air.

>> china's pollution problem is caused about one third by export to america and to western europe. so this pollution is our pollution and i think we have an ethical obligation to reduce it. >> ifill: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪

moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: americans today weighed the president's sunday night address on terror, abroad and at home. at the same time, investigators in southern california sought to shed new light on the attack by a husband and wife who turned to militant islam. san bernardino county leaders

called for unity this morning, as thousands of employees returned to work for the first time since last week's shootings. >> today, i want to ask the community to mourn with us. i ask that you come together and hold each other strong, because it is this strength that will help us heal. >> trudy was at the lunch where sayed farook and tashfeen malik opened fire killing 14 people and wounding 21. a focus of the probe now is whether malik radicalized her husband and if she was, indeed, the driving force behind the rampage. the f.b.i. stated today the couple trained by taking target practice, but it's not clear who led the way to violence. >> we have learned and believe that both subjects were radicalized and have been for

quite some time. now, how did that happen? the question we're trying to get at is how did it happen and by whom and where did it happen. >> ifill: as the attack began last week, malik pledged allegiance online to abu bakr al-baghdadi, overall leader of the islamic state group. the militants say she was a supporter, but have not claimed any direct link to the attack. >> the threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. >> ifill: last night, president obama sought last night to reassure the nation. >> our success won't depend on tough talk, or abdoning our values or giving into fear. that's what groups like isil are hoping for. instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless. >> ifill: the president did not announce a new strategy to defeat the islamic state, but he did call for greater gun control measures. they would include not allowing people whose names appear on "no-fly" lists to buy firearms.

in san bernardino, reactions at a makeshift memorial were lukewarm. >> he has to walk a fine line, but it probably comes across as a little weak, but that is kind of obama's style. >> it wasn't strong enough. it appears to me that every time he talks on camera that this is like a bothersome thing for him, that he really just does not want to have to deal with this. >> ifill: back in washington, the homeland security secretary, jeh johnson, said today he will announce changes to the national terror alert system in the coming days. in related developments, the pentagon now confirms that an air strike last month killed the islamic state's top leader in libya. and a strike last week in somalia killed a senior member of the militant group al- shabaab, affiliated with al- qaeda. the day's other major story comes out of chicago, where the police will now come under a full-scale federal investigation. the u.s. justice department

plans to review officers' use of force and other issues. we'll report on this in detail, later in the program. in the day's other news, negotiators on a global climate deal moved into a critical phase in paris. this is the second and final week of the u.n. conference. u.n. secretary-general ban ki- moon warned ministers from nearly 200 countries not to duck hard decisions. >> ( translated ): the clock is ticking towards climate catastrophe. the world is expecting more from you than half-measures and incremental approaches. it is calling for a transformative agreement, an agreement that opens the way for peace, stability and prosperity. >> ifill: negotiators released a draft agreement over the weekend, which left all of the critical disputes unresolved. democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders outlined his own climate strategy today, aimed at what he calls "the billionaire fossil fuel lobby." the vermont senator's plan aims

to cut u.s. carbon pollution 40% from 1990 levels by the year 2030. sanders says he would ban arctic and offshore drilling, and he's calling for an end to subsidies for fossil fuel companies. in venezuela, they're still counting the votes from sunday's stunning parliamentary election. but it's already clear the results will challenge years of socialist domination in the latin america oil state. chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner has this report. >> warner: it was a raucous scene throughout the night. in the streets of caracas, filled with victory chants. car horns honking. and people hugging, after the opposition coalition took control of the national assembly with 62% of yesterday's vote. a top coalition official hailed the results, even as the counting continued. >> ( translated ): this day will tell you that the citizens

have decided to walk together, they will say that hope is always more powerful than fear. >> warner: this morning newspapers confirmed it: opposition candidates won 99 seats to the ruling socialist party's 46, with 22 races still outstanding. >> warner: socialist president nicolas maduro conceded the loss, but blamed an economic war waged by foreign elements, and a bid for power by the conservative monied clash. >> ( translated ): in venezuela, the opposition hasn't won. for now, a counter-revolution that is at our doorstep has won. >> warner: maduro came to power in 2013, succeeding the charismatic revolutionary hugo chavez, who ruled for 14 years. but with falling oil prices, the economy of this oil-rich country has tanked, with 180% inflation this year and near-empty store shelves.

michael shifter is president of the inter-american dialogue in washington. >> the economic situation in venezuela is horrible. it's hard to think of another precedent that's as bad as venezuela's. the inflation rate is the highest in the world, there are shortages, people are waiting for three hours to get toilet paper. it just became absolutely unacceptable and so the performance of the government was on the line and the voters had their say. >> warner: the opposition also demanded its jailed leaders and supporters be freed, like local mayor leopoldo lopez, serving 14 years for promoting political violence. his wife spoke last night. >> ( translated ): thank you for your vote, thank you for fighting, thank you for resisting, which can get tiring. we did not get tired, we did it. we won. >> warner: venezuelans are now waiting to see if the opposition captures the two-thirds super- majority it needs to reshape the

constitution and curb maduro's near-absolute power. >> ifill: in washington, the white house said it's too soon to tell if the outcome in venezuela will alter years of antagonism toward the united states. >> ifill: france's far-right national front party has scored its best election showing ever - - in the wake of the terror attacks in paris. supporters celebrated last night as the anti-immigration party won in six of 13 regions in sunday's first round of voting. the second round is next sunday. the price of oil plunged today to its lowest since early 2009. it closed at $37.65 a barrel in new york trading, down nearly six percent. that, in turn, drove down energy stocks and the broader market. the dow jones industrial average lost 117 points to finish at 17,730. the nasdaq fell 40 points. and the s-and-p 500 shed 14. and, this day marked 74 years

since japan attacked pearl harbor, plunging the united states into world war two. in hawaii, a presentation of memorial wreaths highlighted ceremonies overlooking the u.s.s. "arizona" memorial. the event also paid tribute to elderly survivors of the attack. still to come on the newshour: the president's strategy for defeating isis. a federal probe into the chicago police and racial bias. plus politics monday. candidates react to the president's speech. and much more. >> ifill: in only his third oval office address ever, president obama set out last night to reassure americans he has a plan to fight i.s.i.s. abroad and protect americans from terrorism at home, but is the administration's response the right one for the times?

we ask those questions now or michael mukasey who served as president george w. bush's attorney general and juliette kayyem, former assistant secretary in the department of homeland security during the obama administration. she's now at harvard's kennedy school of government. michael mukasey, did he accomplish what he needed to last night? >> not as far as i saw. i think if the goal was to provide reassurance to the american people that he's got a plan, i don't see a plan. i see more of the same which has not succeeded. there are plans out there. he didn't talk about any of them. there is legislation pending that would allow an enhancement and a safeguarding of our intelligence-gathering capability, he didn't talk about that. there are plans to position u.s. troops, not large numbers, but u.s. troops so as to attack i.s.i.s. where it lives. there are plans to deal with the possibility of a safety zone in syria so as to stop the exit of refugees, he didn't talk about

that either. it was a lot more of the same and a lot of caution to the american people about not holding all muslims responsible which is -- he cut a bloody swath through a lot but didn't talk about much new. >> ifill: did the president take advantage of everything he has at his disposal. >> in some aspects the litany to combat i.s.i.s. here and abroad was a strong litany and talked about changes to the visa waiver program, for example. i appreciate the statements about george bush made about muslims being a part of the american fabric and immigrants into this country actually makes us safer. where i felt he failed or could have been done more, one, is a lot about what the government is doing for us and less about what people might be able to do for ourselves and, in that way, it

didn't sort of engage people in ways that those of us in homeland security is hoping the government will engage the community, things like even active shooter training. people want to be empowered of what to do in this time of unease. the other issue is philosophical, which is what's the measure of success? no expert, no presidential candidate can reasonably argue that there will ever be another attack. so in light of the fact there might be more attacks given the kind of threat we're facing, how quick it is for people to become radicalized, i think he might have prepared us that there will be more attacks and ask us to be as resilient as we need to be for the kind of attack that we have. >> ifill: mr. mukasey, did he do enough to once the reassure americans and prepare them? it seems a tight rope you have to walk as apt, prepare them for the possibility of more maihem?

>> i don't think so. i think, if anything, the message was see something, do nothing. the people in california who did see something were reluctant to disclose it, reluctant to report it to the authorities because of possible reaction by their neighbors and possibly being accused of profiling. but this is december 7, it's the anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor. if f.d.r. had gone before congress and delivered the kind of speech that president obama delivered last night and told the american people that the folks who attacked us at pearl harbor were not representative of a peaceful shinta religion and that we must be very careful not to discriminate and that we have to be prepared for more and said that he wasn't going to send a lot of troops to occupy foreign lands, what do you think the reaction who have been? i think he would have been booed off the podium. >> ifill: let me to you ask you about that because you

worked for george w. bush after the 9/11 attacks appeared famously before the members of the muslim community and said this is not about islam. is there something else they should be doing? you talked about racial profiling. what is this administration encourage org not that you find is lacking on that front? >> what i think is lacking on that front is encouraging people to actually consider the fact that this is a religiously-based doctrine that we're facing without at all condemning all muslims or even the majority of muslim also at all. it's a fine line to walk but it has to be walked, and i think the fact that the violence in this country that emanated from this source started in the 1980s, it continued in the 1990s with attacks on our embassies in kenya, tanzania, overseas, the trade center bombing, the second attack on line nine eleven, this all has

the same dna, and talking about that is important. >> ifill: pardon me for interrupting. juliette kayyem, i want you to respond to that and the idea that technology has outpaced our learning wurve when it comes to attacks like this. >> well, i think with respect to rums-american communities i tid hear the president mention this is a fight within islam and in fact it is the religion itself and members of the religion who are going to have to combat the struggle that makes violence a part of these radical terrorists who are attacking us. so that he clearly said and that was further than he said before. but anyone who's been in counterterrorism like the two of us knows, looking at the american fabric, you ask us, what is the thing that makes us safe compared to france or the systemic issues they're having or britain even with the problems they have with communities, it is america's

capacity to integrate and assimilate all these different populations. we're not perfect, we certainly have a problem in this country, no one's denying that, but it was very important in the context of the presidential campaign and obama's critic and some things they have said regarding, you know, tracing muslims and targeting muslims and muslims won't be president, i know that's the extreme, but it is out there, to say forcefully that is neither how we conduct ourselves as a democratic society, nor is it actually going to make us safer. but just getting to the point about sort of moving forward, it can't -- as i said, you know, we face violence in this country, given the threat. it's not just technology. it is that no amount of intelligence can seem to be able to to at anytime in our history figure out what is that moment when someone goes from not liking america or not liking their position in life to violence? is it access to arms? radicalization? is it that i.s.i.s. is very good

online? it's all of those things, possibly, but no intelligence agencies, not ours, the israelis, no one can get to the moment that stops every attack. so our measured success has to be limiting the number of attacks and then having a public safety, public response apparatus that can minimize the deaths when those attacks occurred. if you look at san bernardino, more people would have died but for the actions of very quick response by police officers and public safety officials, same with the boston marathon, same thing that happened this weekend in britain with the stabbings in the subway. >> ifill: youth youth of the harvard kennedy school and michael mukasey former u.s. attorney general, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> ifill: chicago's police department, and the role of the city's leaders, were back in the spotlight today as questions mounted about accountability,

police history and what happened in another fatal shooting. the day started with the justice department's announcement that it will investigate the city's police force. william brangham has the story. >> brangham: the official word came from attorney general loretta lynch in washington: the justice department will investigate what it calls "patterns and practices" by the chicago police. >> what we will be looking at again is the chicago police department's method and manner of dealing with use of force, particularly deadly force, and whether or not we find racial, ethnic and other disparities in how they handle those force allegations. it will encompass a number of things, including how officers are disciplined and the disciplinary systems. >> brangham: chicago mayor rahm emanuel initially opposed a federal civil rights investigation as misguided, but today, he says he welcomed it. we'll cooperate with the justice department as it relates to the police department and you should hear from me, it's in our self-interest as a city for them

to be here. >> brangham: the federal probe follows a furor over the killing of 17-year-old laquan mcdonald. last month, the city released police video of the incident, more than a year after it occurred. on it, officer jason van dyke is seen shooting mcdonald 16 times. police say mcdonald had a knife, but on the video, he appears to be moving away from the officers. van dyke is now charged with first-degree murder. but there will be no charges in another fatal police shooting from last year. just eight days before the mcdonald shooting. video released today shows officer george hernandez shooting at a fleeing 25-year- old named ronald johnson. police say johnson had pointed a gun, which they say was found next to his body when he fell. state's attorney anita alvarez found insufficient evidence to take action against the officer. >> even though mr. johnson was running away from hernandez and other officers, he was running towards a police vehicle containing two other responding officers and unknown members of the public in that park.

furthermore, johnson could have easily turned around and quickly fired at the officer pursuing him or even fired as he ran. >> brangham: the lawyer for johnson's family denied he had a gun, and called the prosecutor's reasoning a joke. >> when they all saw the video, they all said "oh, he was about to turn and point" because they had to justify what hernandez did. and there is simply no justification. >> brangham: for his part, mayor emmanuel has already fired the police superintendent, and he promised full accountability again today. >> i'm taking responsibility for what happened and i take responsibility for fixing it in this action, and part of every level of government and service is thinking not only about the future of the city of chicago, doing the things necessary and making sure that you're held accountable for the results. >> brangham: protesters, in turn, say they won't stop their demonstrations, demanding both the mayor and the prosecutor step down. let's look a little deeper into the federal investigation of chicago's police department and prior work by the department of justice in this same vein. vanita gupta is the assistant attorney general at the department of justice.

she heads the civil rights division and has led these efforts. welcome. can we talk a little bit about the timing of this? was this particular case, the killing of laquan mcdonald, was that the impetus for the justice department stepping in today? >> the impetus is that we conduct a preliminary review that looks at all the available evidence including the laquan mcdonald incident and response, and we decide whether we think there is enough of a reason for the justice department to open a pattern practice investigation, so we consider a bunch of available information. >> brangham: there is a lot of people in chicago who, as you know, have been complaining about police and community relation force years and many are saying why did it take you so long? >> well, you know, the justice department gets asked to be in a lot of different jurisdictions and we look at all the available information, but many more requests were made in the last weeks in response to the video, we took those very seriously,

examined what was available and decided this was the time to open up this investigation. >> brangham: so about the investigation, what are you going to be looking into specifically? >> so we're going to be looking at use of force and accountability issue, and i would say these are two very deep, broad areas for a very large department, for the justice department to be investigating. we'll be looking at the ways in which officers have used force, are trained to use force, the ways that they are reporting and being held accountable for incidents where there may be excessive use of force. they will be looking at a broad range of issues that fall into those two areas. >> brangham: with regards to the mcdonald case in particular, a lot of people in chicago believe there was a coverup, not just the police department, but all the way up to city hall there was an attempt to suppress the evidence about this particular killing. will the justice department investigate that as well? >> so that is a separate criminal matter and, obviously, the criminal investigators will be looking at all the available evidence pertaining to that

particular matter, but the work that -- the investigation we announced today is a civil pattern of practice investigation and that is really aimed at looking at whether there is a pattern of practice of constitutional violations being committed by the chicago police department in the areas of use of force and accountability. we will, obviously, consider a particular individual incident as we look at whether there's a pattern of practice, but this is separate from criminal investigations. >> brangham: let's see you find a pattern or practice, what happens then? how do you try to stamp that out? >> yeah, so after, if we do find that upon kind of a thorough review, we will then issue our findings publicly. it's something we want the american public to understand and be aware of what we've looked at and found. we would seek to negotiate through a collaborative negotiation an agreement with the city to remedy the problems we found and in the vast majority of gurges dictions where the justice department goes in, we are able to achieve a negotiated settlement that

then will be court enforceable with a monitor and that seeks to remedy all the constitutional violatioviolations we found. >> brangham: our colleagues at "the washington post" and "frontline" did an investigation of prior instances where the justice department tried to fix problems within police departments around the country and the results were mixed. they found examples of use of force going up in some departments after the settlement, morale plummeted in others, community relations in other were still deeply troubled. why do you think chicago will be different? >> so, just something i think is important to understand about our investigation is when we actually achieve an agreement to recommendedy these problems, we will off in those jurisdictions see spikes in reportings. >> brangham: people pay more attention. >> they do, they have more confidence in the systems we put in place and that is quite typical of our investigations. also in places like east haven,

connecticut, seattle, washington, where they have transformed the way they engaged in usin use force when they use force, what kind of accountability systems they have in place and is resulting in significant reduction in the use of force while keeping crime and violent crime down and i think that's important. in places like east haven, we have been able to document transformed relationships between the community and law enforcement. policing is a very complex set of issues and i think we have been working very collaboratively along the process with law enforcement, with community, listening to them directly about what they're experiencing every day to come out with the best kind of police department the community deserves in these jurisdictions. >> brangham: the head of the f.b.i. james comey said all these criticisms of police, all these investigations may in some way be causing police to step back and not do their job as effectively. do you think that's true and, if

so, do you worry yet another investigation could suppress the kind of work police are trying to do because they're scared? >> he said the justice department is critical in the field of policing up and what he did say was around tissue of policing and there is no data to back up the assertions that we know law enforcement every day, police officers are everyday put themselves in danger to protect the rest of us. obviously, though, we are interested in accumulating and collecting data but, for now, there is nothing to contradict what police officers -- or what we're hearing police officers say around the country. >> brangham: the attorney general in her announcement said she hoped the investigation would serve as a deterrent to other police officers. is there any evidence that actually happens? >> i've spent the last year speaking directly with law enforcement and police agencies and what they are doing is quad laudable. they're examining the

president's report on 21s 21st century policing and trying to take pro active steps to ensure if there is a critical incident that it doesn't create mass alarm and they are preempting through training, policies and changes that they are voluntarily undertaking so they can have constitutional policing while keeping the public safe and frankly not have a pattern process investigation if that can be held off. so i actually think there is a very robust conversation happening now around the country among law enforcement on a whole range of these issues. >> brangham: acting assistant attorney general vanita gupta, thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: beijing issues a "red alert" as a layer of smog bears down the chinese capital. plus, how an annual art fair inspires miami's local culture. but first, we return to the fallout from last week's san

bernardino attacks. candidates have staked out ground, some of it high and some of it low. today, frontrunner donald trump said that the u.s. should "shut down" all travel by muslims to the u.s., including tourists. other candidates blasted the president for what they said was a tepid response. even democratic frontrunner hillary clinton said more needs to happen. >> we're not winning, but it's too soon to say that we are doing everything we need to do. and i've outlined very clearly. we have to fight them in the air, we have to fight them on the ground, and we have to fight them on the internet. >> we don't need a president who goes on national television and lectures the american people like a school marm. condescends to the american people and says the problem we have is islamaphobia. no, the problem we have is a president commander-in-chief who refuses to recognize our enemy. our enemy is radical islamic terrorism. >> people are scared not just because of these attacks, but because of a growing sense that we have a president that is completely overwhelmed by them.

i'm very disappointed tonight. i think not only did the president not make things better tonight, i fear he may have made things worse in the minds of many americans. >> the president is misleading us about the 65 nation coalition. it's only on paper. there is no answer other than destroying isil. the president has got the right goal. he just doesn't have the right strategy. >> ifill: it's politics monday. so for more on the response to the president's address, we turn to tamara keith of n.p.r., and amy walter of "the cook political report." we have to start, ladies, but talking about donald trump who, this afternoon, put out a statement saying all muslims should be banned from the united states, should not cross borders including american-born muslims who happen to be abroad. >> where do we even begin? you know, for a guy who continues to raise the bar on saying and doing really inappropriate and offensive things, he now raised it that much higher and you're starting to see even republican candidates jumping on him and saying this is absolutely

outrageous and this is not at all what we should be doing. but donald trump has, thus far, been rewarded for everything he's said and done. not only does his support not go away, but it hardens around him with the sense that he is the only person that's saying the things that everybody else believes but won't dare to say. >> ifill: as we speak, there have been denunsiations from jeb bush who called him unhinged, from lindsey graham, from other republican candidates. ted cruz said that's not my position, that's all he said. even hillary clinton weighed in. >> she did. she tweeted and said that this doesn't make us safer, and she even added, the real donald trump -- she tweeted it herself, the h was there. i think the backlash was immediate and came from all range of candidates from the

death penalty and republican side. this is not one to have the things they're backing away and saying trump will be trump. pretty much all candidates have weighed in and said this is not the right thing to be saying. that said, donald trump is getting the ratings he wants, people are talking about him. he is in the news cycle once again i let's go back to the previous news cycle. the president's speech last night. there was unanimity on the part of all the republicans, the ones who spoke, and some on the part of democrats that the president didn't quite do enough last night. >> the presiden -- the republicd to hear the president say we're at war with radical islam and hear a different strategy. they got neither of those and got a lecture on gun control by the president which they also hate. pretty easy for them to say they disagreed with it. what wasn't easy is to see where republicans go next. each has different avenue in terms of what they'd do to

handle i.s.i.s. and terrorism. >> ifill: so if you're ted cruz, you want the president and several others to say radical islamic terrorism, those words, no other way of putting it. if you're marco rubio, you want to say the president's weak. that seems to be the theme we see emerging. >> i think that's a pretty consistent theme that has been coming from republican presidential candidates and republicans on capitol hill that president obama is not using strong enough language and doesn't have a strategy. however, many of these same candidates, when you look at their strategies, their strategy seems to be very similar to president obama's strategy, except, like, we would do it better. >> a little tougher, a little more. >> but not a markedly different strategy, aside from lindsey graham who talks about something like 10 tow ground troops -- 10,000 ground troops, many are saying the same things, more air

strikes -- >> ifill: they turned it into a critique of the president. >> rather than the style of -- >of hillary clinton. she said the president was going to outline strategy and give new proposals which he did not do. she hasn't made any statements in the wake of his speech last night. >> ifill: quick to make a statement about donald trump. >> that's easier for her. she's in a difficult position where she was part of the obama administration, she was part of the early development of the strategy, and now she is distancing herself but you can't distance yourself too far. it's just tougher. >> ifill: if you pick a fight, fibbing the easier fight -- pick the easier fight. >> right, and donald trump is the easier fight. >> ifill: the other fight on the republican side, ted cruz and marco rubio, who are eyeing each other from opposite ends of

the boxing ring. >> it's interesting because while donald trump is taking up all the time and energy now, what many of us see this race ultimately coming down to is a choice between trkdz and marco rubio for the no nomination. if you're ted cruz you hope are donald trump supporters come to you. if you're marco rubio you position yourself center right as opposed to more of the right candidate. and what marco rubio is doing now is trying to undermine cruz's bo bonafides on defense, trying to take the supporters who might migrate from trump and carson over. so let's try to question cruz's commitment on national security, his support for getting rid of the metadata bulk collection system, questioning some of his support for other issues in terms of making him look weaker. >> ifill: are they fighting

for second place, hoping trump stumbles and they get the fallout? >> yes, they're basically the same age and background and similar ambition and both very good orators from the senate and they are looking at each other and thinking that they are going to be the final two, that they figured, at some point, the air will come out of the donald trump balloon and be between them and they are fighting that fight. >> ifill: a pollster in iowa weighed in and said the one thing about the polls we follow obsessively is that iowans make up their minds the last minute. >> they always do very, very late, as do new hampshire voters, and a lot is determined by what happened in the state before that. >> ifill: so all right now is just a dance? >> a lot of it is a dance but a lot of it is sewing the seeds, that's where marco rubio is

doing it more to ted cruz than ted cruz is doing it to rube you, but sewing seeds of doubt and questioning his commitment on issues like national security, hoping voters remember that as they make their final decisions. >> ifill: final thought. three or four tickets out of iowa and ted cruz and marco rubio are hoping to have thet. >> and ted cruz more likely than marco rubio. >> right. >> ifill: you got to the ticket thing right away. i thought we would do it later. thank you both very much. >> ifill: and for the first time in six years, congress has passed --and the president has signed-- a $300 billion transportation funding law. political director lisa desjardins reports on the bipartisan breakthrough. you can find her report online on what happens when politics goes right. as thick smog bore down on china's capital today, beijing issued its first-ever "red alert".

the country's highest possible warning prompted citywide school closings and driving restrictions. the scenes are a stark reminder of the huge environmental price china has paid for becoming the world's factory, a problem experts say the government is now taking seriously. one gauge of that is the free reign given to a non-government environmental group. fred de sam lazaro reports from china as a part of his on going series "agents for change." >> reporter: the inspectors came calling recently at this textile factory in the eastern city of hangzhou. the plant is part of the saintyear company, one of the icons of china's rapid rise as a manufacturing powerhouse. it produces two billion feet of patterned and dyed fabric each year for clothing makers and retailers around the world. this plant also produces some

60,000 tons of waste water, and a 2013 investigation found it was not being adequately treated. manager wang wei said millions of dollars were invested to upgrade the system >> ( translated ): today, we invited i.p.e. in to show them our changes, our improvement in environmental protection so their inspectors can see we are in compliance with government requirements. >> reporter: but i.p.e.-- the inspectors-- are not from the all powerful government. the institute of public and environmental affairs, is a small non-government organization. >> i.p.e. has been a real force >> reporter: i.p.e. founder ma jun has won international accolades for environmental activism that has taken on china's powerful industrial establishment. he's done so with political savvy and technology says linda greer, of the washington based n.r.d.c., the natural resources

defense council, which has partnered with i.p.e. >> i think he's an astute observer of what are the problems and how they best be solved in china. >> reporter: ma was an investigative journalist in the 1990s, when he began documenting the toll of china's industrialization, environmental and human. >> like in those cancer village group of old ladies kneeling down in front of me, you know, holding a bottle of polluted water and hoping that they get help, this is the voice that got drowned in this complex globalized supply chain system. >> reporter: he says hundreds of millions of chinese have been exposed to health hazards and things are approaching a tipping point. >> if we don't handle that right, this will not just threaten our social stability,

but it could hinder the very economic growth itself. >> reporter: it's not hard to get a sense of public concern, even anger. >> ( translated ): the air is not good, and it's getting worse and worse. >> reporter: at the sidewalk barber shop outside the industrial city of tianjin, people shared their feelings, though not their names. >> ( translated ): you do feel the pollution when you breathe, it's a lot more polluted than before. the water is also polluted and our food. >> ( translated ): the officials are corrupt. people with money can buy favor, corrupt officials are everywhere. >> reporter: ma jun says there's growing political will in beijing to tackle the crisis. standards have been tightened and factories are now required to report their emission levels, in real time. i.p.e. then makes this dense information accessible to the general public, on the web and now on mobile.

this is a large power plant just outside the industrial city of tianjin and its one of thousands of industrial sites across the country that are monitored and that information is readily available to anyone who's downloaded the i.p.e. app onto their smart phone. as it turns out, this plant today is well within the range of allowable emissions. as you can see, there are many plants in this area, some of them are above the allowable limits and they're coded in red. the one we're standing in front of comes in at 33. the problem is local officials who must enforce laws are rewarded for economic growth, for creating jobs. so they're often indifferent to emission levels set in beijing. >> there's sort of a "nobody will ever know" mentality at the provincial and local level. >> reporter: so i.p.e. has taken matters to the global level, to customers, far likelier to be sensitive about their public image.

when i.p.e. learned the hagzhou factory was out of compliance, for example, it contacted its biggest customers, including nike, walmart, gap and h&m. >> they made very clear commitment to sustainable manufacturing and sourcing. and we just want to hold them accountable for that. >> ( translated ): i.p.e. convinced our brand customers, not to place any order from any supplier not reached their threshold requirements. i.p.e. is trusted by the public and we can trust their data. >> reporter: because of its size, wang says his company was able to afford the $30 million- plus upgrade. but he says that may not be true of all suppliers, who are often pressured by their brand customers to lower costs. ma jun says the solution is to make information accessible to all parties. >> many stakeholders would like to join the efforts including,

even the polluters themselves. you know they pollute. it's not because morally they have a problem, but more because the mechanism now is rewarding those who cut corners to save cost, so i think that we can level the playing field. >> reporter: one way i.p.e. does that is by publishing an annual transparency index. >> ( translated ): today, i would like to announce the top 100 brands and their ranking and scores. >> reporter: the index ranks international brands on how they've dealt with suppliers that are violating pollution laws: are they working to reduce emissions or increase recycling, for instance. >> ( translated ): scores are on the rise. apple is over 70. >> reporter: apple ranks number one, ironic since that company initially declined to work with i.p.e. it relented after i.p.e. investigations linked several

polluting factories to the silicon valley giant. today, apple and several global brands use the group's data as a resource. ninh trinh works for the retailer "target." >> we look at i.p.e. to insure that there are no irregularities, what is the progress of our suppliers that have irregularities that need to be reported? >> reporter: several, like macy's, j.c. penney and victoria's secret, were rated at zero. the brands insist they monitor their suppliers. macy's and penney told us they never heard from i.p.e. the group says each brand was contacted by letter. ma says i.p.e. will add brands on the next version of its mobile app, not just the relatively unknown factory names. >> china's pollution problem is caused about one third by export to america and to western europe. so, this pollution is our

pollution and i think we have an ethical obligation to reduce it. >> reporter: and even as china begins cleaning up, she and ma jun fear the global supply chain will migrate to less expensive countries eager, as china was a generation ago, to attract new factories but lacking systems to safeguard the environment. for the pbs newshour, this is fred de sam lazaro in tianjin, china. >> ifill: fred's report was funded in part by the pulitzer center on crisis reporting. a version of this story also appeared on the pbs show "religion and ethics newsweekly." finally tonight, one of north america's biggest contemporary art fairs wrapped in miami this weekend. special correspondent jared bowen was there to see how the annual gathering is changing the

city's identity. >> reporter: for a week every december, miami becomes the center of the contemporary art world. art basel, in its 14th year, is an international gal gathering of galleries, artists, collectors and art officenados from all walks of life. >> it's a meeting point for all different constituents. >> reporter: art basel is the director. >> collectors come because to have the quality of the galleries and you don't get this anywhere. it makes it special. >> reporter: think of the works you see in museums around the world. they're here but for sale. picasso master pieces and a towering tree by i way-way.

there is $2 billion of art on show, showcasing work by artists around the globe. >> this is related to war. >> reporter: this sculptor has seen an enormous shift for latin american artists in the past decade. >> when i started showing here in 2005, i it was just the beginning of latino-american art being available to the wide market, and now it's absolutely an art that is recognized as important, american art, european art, it's part of the universal art history. >> reporter: navarro is represented by mario barrio and her gallery based in so palo, brazil. >> why are you here? i want to sell out. >> reporter: francis is a miami native.

this year displaying work at a satellite fair called "pulse." >> what we try to do every december is concentrate on the artists working in miami. >> reporter: she and her artist husband are co-directors of an independent gallery in downtown miami called dimensions variables. they say they've seen a change in miami's art scene dins art basel. >> because of the awareness, a lot of people visit, whether curators, collectors, looking to miami and looking into what's happening in the city again and the artists that are working here are being able to take advantage of those possibilities. >> reporter: one of the most visible signs of change since art basel came to miemen miami s winwood, once avoided by locals, is now a gallery, studio and most of all developers.

>> i build neighborhoods. to give neighborhoods a sense of place, i feel art, design, architecture are all important components that can make a neighborhood really feel special and different. >> reporter: developer craig robbins stands at the nexus of art and commerce in miami. after helping build south beach, he worked on midtown, leveling abandoned buildings to produce a mix of high-end fashion and furniture stores, all surrounded by giant works of art and renamed the design district. he also helped bring art basel to miami. >> miami has become a city where we define ourselves with culture, and you see many different examples of that. art basel is clearly a catalyst. there are incredible art collections in the city, and there are lots of museums that exist or are merging on a new level. >> reporter: two of those museums are the institute of contemporary art set to open in

a new building in the design district in 2017, and the perez art museum-miami which moved into a brand-new $200 million building in 2013. >> october 15 was my first day. >> reporter: franklin sermons who only recently arrived from the los angeles county museum of art is the perez museum's director. >> in a city like miami, a past is short. if you're going to the museum of modern art, you have to work through picasso. there is no way you can deny that presence. whereas here, it's a little bit shorter history. >> reporter: his task at the perez, take it from a place with the base of community support and a shiny new building and find the money to turn it into aworld-class institution. another newcomer is alexandria, a cuban sculpture who created a piece at the cisneros art foundation downtown.

>> you have to remember places like new york, at some point are expensive to afford for many artists, especially coming from south america, and miami suddenly becomes a good opportunity, a place that can be use ford studios and to create business, obviously a lot of big competition here, but there is a lot of opportunities here. >> reporter: opportunities, yes. the fair brings in millions of dollars each year to the local economy. but some complain that amid all the hype of art basel, the vast sums of money being spent, all the viep events, the focus is too much on big-name outsiders and not enough on the local scene. >> we feel the community and people here have things to say, really important things to say and we want to foster that. >> what ends up happening sometimes i think is you have a circuit of fairs where people travel the world and basically look at the same artist in every

single city they go to. >> reporter: part of the challenge is translating the excitement and energy art basel generates into the rest of the year here in miami and define what it means to be a great art city in the 21st century. from miami, i'm jared bowen for the pbs "newshour". >> ifill: on the newshour online: nearly three million syrian children are out of school, displaced from their homes and communities. but one syrian artist wants to encourage young refugees to return to the classroom, by making them cheerful places with bright, colorful murals some of the students even help paint. you can find a photo gallery of that work, on our home page, pbs.org/newshour

tune in later tonight, on "charlie rose:" george osborne, britain's chancellor of the exchequer, on the u.k.'s new role in the fight against isis. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm gwen ifill. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century.

>> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

>> this is "bbc world news america." >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and hong kong tourism board. >> want to know hong kong's most romantic spots? i will show you. i love heading to repulse bay for an evening stroll. it's a perfect, stunning backdrop for making romantic moments utterly unforgettable.